Boston REAL estate

I have learned many things with this new life in the big city. Most of them have been enjoyable. I will share with you one of the least enjoyable aspects of life in Boston. The apartment search in Boston is somewhere between a swirly and getting punched in the kidney on the fun scale. Most people are aware that the cost of living in Boston is outrageous. My definition of “cheap rent” has drastically increased. But not only do you have to pay a ridiculous amount to live in a Boston apartment, you have to jump through high flaming hoops just to find one. Enter the realtor…

To rent an apartment in Boston you have to mediate the lease agreement through a realtor. The realtor shows you the apartment facilitates the lease agreement and works out any details between the renter and the landlord. That in itself does not sound bad. Of course you have to pay the realtor for their time. The typical fee is one month rent. Half a months rent if you are lucky. Some people (crazy ones) might find this reasonable. Here is the rub… 98% of realtors in Boston are either incompetent or crooked. Upon meeting this new supposed friend they will fit one of these two descriptions.


Realtor A- Very nice person, most likely a woman. Her car will smell like cats, or fried food. She will not have the key to the apartment you want to see, so will show you a “similar” property which will not have the number of bedrooms, bathrooms, or location you desire. She will then try to take you to view “better” places in a part of the city you have never heard of. She can’t answer difficult question like “does this guy passed out in the bathroom come with the apartment”. In the end you will have to make up an excuse to terminate your outing, something like “I just remembered I am dying later this week so will not need an apartment after all”.


Realtor B-This guy is typically a sleazy foreigner. He may actually be so sneaky that you don’t even realize just how crooked he is upon meeting him. He may pick you up in a nice car and smell of cologne and sausage. This guy is even worse than the bumbling fool you met before. He will lie to your face. He will say anything to get you to write him a check and sign a application. "does the apartment come with a blow up bouncy castle and can we install a moat?' "of course it does and you can have alligators too" He will reply in a heavy Russian-Greek accent. If you get duped you will end this interaction by shaking his puffy hand which is slimy with sweat. You will smell of sausage cologne for the rest of the day.

Aaron, George and myself found a prospective apartment on Saturday. We wrote him a check for a large sum of money. We walked away free of strange smells, I am still skeptical. But optimistic at the same time. (yes, you can be both)